PhotasticFriday: Displaying Christmas photos

I LOVE looking at Christmas photos. It's one of my favorite holiday traditions. Even today, looking through my mom's stack of holiday photos is one of the first things I do when we go home. When I was little, my mom would cover the entire front door with wrapping paper and stick on a ribbon to make it look like a giant present. Then we'd hang all of the holiday photos and cards on it as they came in the mail.




This is our first Christmas being married and really the first time we've sent out holiday cards, which meant we also received a bunch in return. I began hanging them on a piece of yarn with tiny clothes pins across our dining room windows.



It's super simple but a really fun way to display the photos.

Here are a few other examples I found around the web (All of the photos link back to the sources). I'm always up for some new ideas, so share 'em if you have 'em.

Sneak Peek Saturday: Crafternoon with Cristen

Can you guess what will result in a crafternoon with my bff Cristen when you start with a table full of this? Stay tuned for a DIY Friday project next week.

DIYFriday: Custom bokeh

I created my first custom bokeh last weekend.

What's a bokeh you ask?

(source)





It's those little specs of light that form when you shoot with your aperture wide open.

The specs are circular with a standard lens because it takes the the natural shape of the lens. I've noticed lots of people toying with bokeh filters lately that can create some cool shapes other than your standard circle. 


Here's how I created the heart-shaped bokeh effect in these photos:

1. I used my standard 50 mm lens because it goes to a 1.8 aperture.


2. I traced around the end of the lens and then cut it out, going slightly smaller so it would fit inside.



3. I cut out a pretty pathetic heart shape and the just fit the piece of paper into the lens, pressing the edges to create a tight fit. I've seen other examples that use tape and hoods, but this was fairly simple and still produced the desired effect.


Voila. So simple. I think this is great for shooting holiday photos. You could do stars or hearts to shoot in front of the Christmas tree or the Star of David for Hanukkah shoot. I've seen people use craft paper punches to do all sorts of desired shapes. There's also this bokeh kit, which costs only $25.